Pin fall display on ball lift hood

ABSTRACT

The invention is a lighted bowling pinfall display panel located on the face of a ball return lift hood for indicating to a bowler through the means of a light pattern which bowling pins remain standing after a ball has been delivered. Indicator lights arranged to simulate pin spots are powered by a low voltage DC source mounted beneath the lift hood. Solid state circuitry mounted adjacent the indicator light brackets controls the lighting of the panel lamps and is actuated by pin detection means associated with an automatic pinsetter, or by pinfall signals from an automatic scorer.

United States Patent 91 McLeod et al.

[451 Apr. 17, 1973 PIN FALL DISPLAY ON BALL LIFT HOOD [75] lnventors:David Peter McLeod, Patrick J. Murphy, both of Muskegon, Mich.

[73] Assignee: 'Ihelirunswick Corporation, Skokie,

Ill.

[22] Filed: July 12, 1971 [21] Appl.No.: 161,700

[52] US. Cl ..340/323, 273/54 C, 340/225 [5 l Int. Cl. ..G08b 5/36 [58]Field of Search ..340/323; 273/54 R,

[56 References Cited UN [TED STATES PATENTS l0/l97l 5/1966 Matcovich340/323 Cornberg ..340/323 X OTHER PUBLICATIONS Bowling Magazine, Vol.37, April i971 page 44 New Line for Brunswick."

Primary Examiner-David L. Trafton Att0rne'y-Donald S. Olexa et al.

[ ABSTRACT The invention is a lighted bowling pinfall display panellocated on the face of a ball return lift hood for indicating to abowler through the means of a light pattern which bowling pins remainstanding after a ball has been delivered. Indicator lights arranged tosimulate pin spots are powered by a low voltage DC source mountedbeneath the lift hood. Solid state circuitry mounted adjacent theindicator light brackets controls the lighting of the panel lamps and isactuated by pin detection means associated with an automatic pin setter,or by pinfall signals from an automatic scorerv 9 Claims, 6 DrawingFigures PIN FALL DISPLAY ON BALL LIFT I-IOOD BACKGROUND The invention isin the field of bowling lane equipment and specifically relates to meanslocated on the bowlers approach end of a lane for indicating to thebowler which pins are standing at the far end of the lane.

The basic concept of providing a lighted indicator at the bowlers end ofthe lane for the purpose of keeping score has been treated in the priorart. Reference is made to this type of indicator in U. S. Pat. No.2,202,674, E. F. Seaman et al., and U. S. Pat. No. 2,452,288, T. R.Blandeau. One of the main problems associated with such systems of theprior art is that they were associated with and actuated by switchmechanisms imbedded in the surface of the bowling lane beneath the pinspots. Such systems have proved to be impractical and have never beenwidely adopted.

Another problem associated with placing a pinfall indicator in aposition remote from its associated pin detection means is that ofmaintaining a consistent level of brightness for all the indicatinglights as the number of pins down varies.

It is an objective of the invention to overcome the problems of theprior art relating to associated pin detection systems by relying uponexisting pin detection systems which are not imbedded in the surface ofthe lane.

It is a primary objective of the invention to provide a lighted standingpin indicator in a most convenient position for reference by the bowler,that being on the face of the ball lift hood immediately adjacent theball return rack from which the bowler will retrieve his ball just priorto bowling.

It is another objective of the invention to provide a lighted pinfallindicator in which the light intensity is adjustable and independent ofthe distance of the indicator from the pinfall detection means.

It is a further objective of this invention to achieve uniformbrightness of display lamps independent of the number of lampsilluminated through remote low current level control and local powersupply.

It is yet a further objective of the invention to provide a lightedpinfall indicator of rugged construction which can survive thevibrations and shock created by the passage of a bowling ball throughthe ball lift and onto its storage rack.

It is still another objective of the invention to provide a pinfallindicator which will simultaneously portray in adjacent arrays thepinfall condition on the two adjacent lanes serviced by the ball lift.

It is another and still further objective of the invention to provide apinfall indicator having novel solid state power supply and controlelements mounted in the immediate vicinity of the pinfall display.

It is yet another objective of the invention to provide a pinfallindicator particularly suited for use with a computer operated automaticelectronic scoring device.

SUMMARY The invention is comprised basically of a lighted pinfalldisplay panel mounted upon the face of a hood covering a ball liftconnected to any type ball rack. The panel contains a replica of thetriangular ten pin array upon which the pins are set at the far end ofthe lane. Lamps for illuminating each of the pin positions are supportedby a circuit board assembly mounted behind and attached to the displaypanel. A rectifier mounted beneath the lift hood provides power to thelamps through light driver circuits associated with the circuit boardassembly, and actuated by electrical signals from pinfall detectionmeans.

Among the many advantages of the invention is the use of low voltagepower which permits the use of longer lasting low voltage light bulbswhich are less sensitive to the vibration and shock to which the displaypanel is subjected.

A further advantage of the invention is the close control overbrilliance of the illuminating lamps achieved by placing a controllablepower supply in the immediate vicinity of the lamps.

Still another advantage of the invention is its independence from anyparticular type of pin detection means.

A further advantage of the invention in league play is that it providesa ready means for following the other team s progress.

Other objectives, advantages and various further features of novelty andinvention will be pointed out or will occur to those skilled in the artfrom a reading of the following specification in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a balllift hood having an illuminated pinfall indicator of the inventioninstalled thereon.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a cover plate for a display panel of theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross sectional view of a pinfall in dicator of theinvention taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic wiring diagram of a pinfall indicator of theinvention connected to pinsetters serviced by an automatic scoringdevice.

FIG. 5 is a schematic wiring diagram for a power supply for the pinfallindicator illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a schematic wiring diagram for a circuit board suitable foruse in the pinfall indicator of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 is a perspectiveview of the invention, clearly showing a pinfall display panel 5 of theinvention mounted upon the face 6 of a ball return hood 1 where it ismost easily viewed by a bowler. The ball lift hood 1 is typicallymounted upon the approach 2 to a bowling lane, and has extendingtherefrom a ball rack 3 onto which the bowling balls 4 are deposited bya ball lift covered by the hood 1. As a bowler retrieves his returnedball from the rack 3 he will be standing in front of a pinfall displaypanel 5 mounted on the front face 6 of the ball return hood 1.

What the bowler sees on the pinfall display panel is best illustrated byFIG. 2. The face of the display panel 5 comprises a cover plate 7 uponwhich appears a replica of the traditional triangular array of the tenpins located at the far end of each of the bowling lanes serviced by theball rack 3. Each pin and its position in the array is represented by acircular disc 8 onto which is imprinted an arabic number 9 from one to10, traditionally associated with that particular position in thetriangular array. In order to improve visibility, the general backgroundof the cover plate 7, as well as the numbers 9 identifying the pinpositions, should be dark in color; while the remainder of the circulardiscs 8 representing the pin positions should be light in color. Inorder to further distinguish the pin positions 8 from the darkbackground of cover plate 7, a white border 10 may be painted aroundeach pin disc 8.

FIG. 3 illustrates the structure of a housing 12 to which the coverplate 7, illuminating lamps 14, and a circuit board 17 are attached.Housing 12 may be set into or extend through the face 6 of the ballreturn hood 1, and shock mounted by suitable means. The cover plate 7 isretained substantially flush with the face 6 of the lift hood 1 by aframe 1 1 which may be attached to the housing 12 by screws or othersuitable means. Housing 12 is preferably constructed of die cast zincand defines a series of twenty light channels or bores 13 arrayed toalign with the pin position discs 8 in the cover plate 7. Lamps 14positioned within the channels 13 illuminate the pin spot discs 8 whenactivated as described below. The outer periphery 15 of the lightchannels 13 fall adjacent the inside of cover plate 7 so as to restrictillumination to the areas defined by the pin spot discs 8.

Circuitry for controlling the illumination of lamps 14 is contained upona circuit board 17 which may be attached to the housing 12 by bolts 18which pass through the board and into threaded apertures in the housing12. Receptables 19 for the lamps 14 are mounted upon the circuit board17 and are so positioned that when board 17 is bolted to the housing 12one of the lamps 14 will extend into each of the twenty light channels13.

FIG. 4 illustrates the sources of power and pinfall information requiredto operate the pinfall display panel 5 of the invention. Power tooperate the display panel 5 is supplied from a ball lift control box 20.Pinfall information to actuate the display panel may be supplied eitherfrom the pin sensing switches mounted in the deck of an automaticpinsetter 21, such as those described in U. S. Pat. No. 3,118,67l to R.Torresen et al., or from an automatic scoring device 26 such as thatdescribed in U. S. Pat. No. 3,435,120 to W. D. Cornell et al., asexplained below.

FIG. 5 illustrates schematically the portions of the electricalcircuitry incorporated in the ball lift control box 20. Referring to thefigure, 110 volt AC power is supplied to the primary windings 30 of atransformer 31. A rectifier 32 is connected to the secondary winding 33of transformer 31 through leads 34 and 35. Provision may be made forconnecting the terminal 36 of lead 35 at various points along thesecondary coil winding 33 to permit variation of the voltage impressedupon the rectifier 32. In the preferred embodiment of the invention,transformer 31 and rectifier 32 are adjusted to deliver six volts to thelight driver circuits 50 of the display panel circuit board 17. Switches43 and 44 interrupt the power lines 41 and 42 leading from the positiveside of the rectifier 32 to circuitry on board 17 for the left hand andright hand display panels respectively. Switches 43 and 44 aremechanically controlled by solenoids 46 and 47 respectively which areactuated by power supplied by leads 23 and 23A to the pinsetters 21 and21A. Activation of a pinsetter will thus automatically connect power toits associated pinfall display panel.

FIG. 6 is a schematic presentation of the circuitry upon circuit board17 For purposes of illustration, the board is divided into two parts 49Arepresenting the circuitry operating the right hand display panel. Eachlight, one through 10, on the A half of the illustrated l circuit board17 is controlled by a transistorized light driver circuit 50, each ofwhich is connected directly to and actuated by a pin detection switch 51located on the deck of an associated pinsetter 21. Each light located onthe 49B side of the circuit board schematic is powered by a similartransistorized light driver circuit 55; however, on the B side eachcircuit is actuated by signals from an associated electronic scoringdevice 26.

The positive sides of the light driver circuits 50 and 55 are connectedto the six volt positive leads 41 and 40 respectively coming from theball lift control box 20, and the negative sides to rectifier 32 via acommon lead 45.

Each of the aforementioned light driver circuits S0 or 55 includes atransistor 60, the collector 61 of which is connected to an indicatorlamp l4 and the emitter 62 of which is connected to the positive side ofrectifier 32 via lead 41 or 42. The base 63 is connected to the positiveside of rectifier 32 through a resistor R-l, and to ground through aresistor R-2 and either a pin detecting switch 51 or a scorer lightdriver circuit 52. Actuation of the light driver circuits 50 and 55 byeither switch 51 or circuit 52 closes current path to base 63 renderingthe transistor conductive and permitting current to flow through theassociated lamp 14. In the absence of an electronic scorer the pindetection switches 51 on a pinsetter are initially open after setting afull set of pins. Switches 51 are closed by pins standing when thepinsetter cycles after the first ball, and remain closed until cycle andre-spot after the second ball when they are again all opened. In suchinstallations the display panel 5 will indicate pins standing after thefirst ball only. In scorer installations pins standing after the secondball will also be detected and displayed, as the scorer must ofnecessity know which pins are standing after the second ball has beendelivered.

In installations of the invention including an automatic electronicscoring system, such as that described in the aforementioned Cornellpatent, the light driver circuits 55 may be completed by signalsgenerated by the scorer. In the past pin standing information hasappeared in lighted displays appearing on a masking shield positionedimmediately in front of the pinsetter at the far end of the lane. Lightson the shield representing standing pins were powered by electricalsignals from the scorer. In the installation of the inventionillustrated by FIG. 4 and represented by the lower half 49B of FIG. 6,these sameelectrical signals, here referred to as light driver power,are utilized to complete the light driver circuits 55 illustrated inFIG. 6. This light driver power is carried by leads 25 from the scorer26 to the pinsetter 21A and from the pinsetter 21A to the base 64 oftransistor 52 by lead 22, causing transistor 52 to conduct and connectlight driver circuit 55 to ground. It can be appreciated that each ofthe lamps of the display panel 5 is controlled by a separate lightdriver circuit 50 or 55.

An alternative arrangement contemplated in the invention is to directlight control signals directly from the scorer 26 to the pinfall displaycircuit board 17. In this configuration the control signals from thescorer could be at a power consistent with computer logic levels. Nosubstantial change in the basic circuitry would be required as the levelof power used to control the light driver circuits 55 is alreadymaintained at the logic level by selection of an appropriate value ofR-2 for the six volt power supply.

The invention thus provides a distinct and convenient visual referenceto pins standing after the bowlers ball has been rolled, it eliminateserrors which may be due to poor eyesight or peculiar alignment of pinswhich makes it difficult for the bowler to clearly see.

While the principles of the invention have been described in connectionwith the above specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood thatthis description is made only by way of example and not as a limitationto the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A pinfall indicator for visually indicating which pins of an array ofbowling pins are standing upon a bowling lane, comprising;

means for sensing which of said bowling pins are standing,

means responsive to said pin sensing means for supplying electricalsignals representative of pinfall,

a hood for a bowling ball return lift positioned at the approach end ofabowling lane, and

means mounted on said hood for visually indicating which of said arrayof bowling pins are standing at the far end of the bowling lane,including a pinfall indicator panel having a plurality of visuallydistinguished areas each representing a particular one of said pins,means to illuminate said indicator panel including means to illuminateeach of said areas individually, and means for selectively supplyingelectrical power individually to each of said area illuminating means,and control means responsive to said means for supplying electricalsignals representative of pinfall for controlling said electrical powermeans, whereby those areas corresponding to pins standing areilluminated.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said means for selectively supplyingelectrical power to each of said area illuminating means individually,and said means for controlling said electrical power means arepositioned substantially adjacent to said illuminating means so that thepower supply line to each of said illuminating means is sufficientlyshort that each of the areas is illuminated with substantially equalintensity irrespective of the total number of such areas illuminated.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said area illuminating means compriselow voltage elements and said means for supplying electrical power toeach of said area illuminating means comprises a low voltage powersupply, whereby said illuminating means are long lived and resistant todamage b vibration.

4. The device of claim trolling said electrical power supply meanscomprise transistorized light driver circuits.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein said transistorized light drivercircuits are responsive to pinfall signals at the logic power level fromsaid pinfall signal supply means.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein said means for supplying electricalsignals representative of pinfall comprises an automatic scoring device.

7. The device of claim 6 wherein said pinfall indicator panel ispositioned above the ball exit of said ball return lift hood.

8.'The device of claim 7 wherein said pinfall indicator panel includesvisually distinguishable areas representative of the arrays of bowlingpins standing on each of two adjacent bowling lanes served by a ballreturn lift covered by said hood.

9. The device of claim 1 wherein said means for visually indicatingwhich of said array of bowling pins are standing comprises a housingadapted to fit within a recess in the top front surface of said hood, aplurality of tubular light directing channels in said housing eachconforming in cross section and axial position to one of said pinidentifying areas, and means securing said indicator panel upon theouter face of said housing with said pin indicating areas in registerwith said light directing channels; said means to individuallyilluminate said areas comprising a light positioned within each of saidchannels, and wherein said means for controlling said power supply meanscomprises a solid state circuit board affixed to said housing adjacentthe inner ends of said light directing channels.

wherein said means for con-

1. A pinfall indicator for visually indicating which pins of an array ofbowling pins are standing upon a bowling lane, comprising; means forsensing which of said bowling pins are standing, means responsive tosaid pin sensing means for supplying electrical signals representativeof pinfall, a hood for a bowling ball return lift positioned at theapproach end of a bowling lane, and means mounted on said hood forvisually indicating which of said array of bowling pins are sTanding atthe far end of the bowling lane, including a pinfall indicator panelhaving a plurality of visually distinguished areas each representing aparticular one of said pins, means to illuminate said indicator panelincluding means to illuminate each of said areas individually, and meansfor selectively supplying electrical power individually to each of saidarea illuminating means, and control means responsive to said means forsupplying electrical signals representative of pinfall for controllingsaid electrical power means, whereby those areas corresponding to pinsstanding are illuminated.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein said meansfor selectively supplying electrical power to each of said areailluminating means individually, and said means for controlling saidelectrical power means are positioned substantially adjacent to saidilluminating means so that the power supply line to each of saidilluminating means is sufficiently short that each of the areas isilluminated with substantially equal intensity irrespective of the totalnumber of such areas illuminated.
 3. The device of claim 2 wherein saidarea illuminating means comprise low voltage elements and said means forsupplying electrical power to each of said area illuminating meanscomprises a low voltage power supply, whereby said illuminating meansare long lived and resistant to damage by vibration.
 4. The device ofclaim 3 wherein said means for controlling said electrical power supplymeans comprise transistorized light driver circuits.
 5. The device ofclaim 4 wherein said transistorized light driver circuits are responsiveto pinfall signals at the logic power level from said pinfall signalsupply means.
 6. The device of claim 5 wherein said means for supplyingelectrical signals representative of pinfall comprises an automaticscoring device.
 7. The device of claim 6 wherein said pinfall indicatorpanel is positioned above the ball exit of said ball return lift hood.8. The device of claim 7 wherein said pinfall indicator panel includesvisually distinguishable areas representative of the arrays of bowlingpins standing on each of two adjacent bowling lanes served by a ballreturn lift covered by said hood.
 9. The device of claim 1 wherein saidmeans for visually indicating which of said array of bowling pins arestanding comprises a housing adapted to fit within a recess in the topfront surface of said hood, a plurality of tubular light directingchannels in said housing each conforming in cross section and axialposition to one of said pin identifying areas, and means securing saidindicator panel upon the outer face of said housing with said pinindicating areas in register with said light directing channels; saidmeans to individually illuminate said areas comprising a lightpositioned within each of said channels, and wherein said means forcontrolling said power supply means comprises a solid state circuitboard affixed to said housing adjacent the inner ends of said lightdirecting channels.